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Ae 8/14
The Ae 8/14 is an electric locomotive in the game Railroad Tycoon II. It becomes available in 1939, and along with the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, is one of the strongest locomotives in the entire game. It also isn't overly expensive either, so it can be used for the majority of freight services. Even though the Ae 8/14 can go only at a moderate speed of 68mph, it can easily sustain relative speed on the most challenging of grades, even while hauling a heavy load. Strategy The Ae 8/14 is effectively a load monster, but is highly limited by it's lack of speed (shouldn't be used for passengers). Based on this, it is a great replacement for older Mikado locomotives that are assigned to heavy freight roles, because it not only can the Ae 8/14 perform much better, but it is also far cheaper than the Mikado. The Ae 8/14 can perform well on most types of freight, but it still has relatively high running costs compared to a locomotive such as the USRA 0-8-0, so it isn't preferred as much on marginal routes, as it's extra power would be very much wasted. This locomotive's acceleration and reliability is also good enough for a mid-speed locomotive, so it can be used in busy railways. It is important to note that this locomotive is not available on North American maps, and the player will have to settle for the excessively expensive 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. It's somewhat irritating that the lifespan of this locomotive only lasts until 1955, because it really is useful for many years after this point. The diesel locomotives of the late-1940's aren't bad at replacing this locomotive, but a true successor would probably be the Penn. E44 (available 1960), as it performs similarly to the Ae 8/14, and is also slightly cheaper. Another considerablely slower option for replacement is the Class 1020, which does a good job, as it is a very cheap and powerful locomotive, but it only has a top speed of 56mph. Comparison History The SBB-CFF-FFS Ae 8/14 is a class of electric locomotives built for Swiss Federal Railways to be used on the Gotthard railway. Only three prototype engines were built between 1931 and 1938, each of them in a different design. The steep 2.7% grades of the Gotthard Railway are challenging for the railroad operation. In the 1920s the trains became so heavy that the power and the traction of one locomotive became insufficient and so costly double-heading or splitting of the train over the mountain was required. The Multiple-unit train control was at that time emerging and not yet a reliable working system. The idea was to introduce double-locomotives with eight axles and a weight of 250 tons. These locomotives could pull the trains directly from Zurich or Lucern over the Gotthard and Monte Ceneri to Chiasso. This eliminated the stops for adding and removing additional locomotives in Erstfeld or Biasca, so that shorter travel times would be possible. Category:Railroad Tycoon II Category:Electric Locomotives Category:Locomotives